Crimson Fire
by SakuraWindChime
Summary: The spring solstice is a time of celebration, and Magnolia is once again celebrating the coming of age of two very special townsfolk. It is said the solstice is magical, and Natsu hopes that this magic might bring him luck. But magic does not always carry fortune. It can be unpredictable, dangerous and explosive. AU. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and its characters.

 **A thank you to Mark for proofing :)**

 **Enjoy~**

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 **Crimson Fire**

People were laughing, their joyous voices filling the Town Hall as they clapped and cheered at the dancers in the centre of the birch wood floor. Natsu's cheeks ached, his throat quickly growing sore from joining in with the rest of his beloved townspeople in the celebration.

It was his and Lucy's coming of age celebration in the old town of Magnolia. Every time one of their inhabitants reached the age of eighteen, the town would throw a celebration for their transition from childhood to adulthood. It always took place on the day of the spring solstice when the night, as they believed, was magical and full of luck for the future.

 _Where did Lucy go?_ Natsu wonders, as he peers around the excitement filled space in an attempt to spot his celebratory counterpart.

He blinks and almost misses the approaching girl, as she tries to weave her way through the crowd that surrounds the dance floor. How could he have possibly missed Lucy's halo of golden hair? Though, he supposes, it is even harder to miss his shocking mess of pink hair, a weird colour for even his quaint town filled with not entirely typically natural hair colours.

The grin that had momentarily left Natsu's face while he searched for the missing girl, with a slacked pout, makes its appearance once more, feeling larger than its predecessor as he sees Lucy beam at him after she locks her brown eyes with his black. Natsu raises himself from his traditional oak chair to meet the girl, closing the distance between them in two of his wide strides.

"I thought you might like one of these," Lucy's smile twinkles in her eyes, as she offered Natsu a glass of bubbled champagne.

The boy takes the drink from Lucy's right hand and drinks the whole glass in one throw back of his head. "Ah, thanks, Luce," he sighs in refreshed relief, lifting his arm to wipe away the residue moisture on his lips. "That's great."

Lucy giggles behind the back of her hand that is still raised from her own modest sip of the alcohol. "Thirsty?"

"Not now thanks to you," Natsu's head bobbing to the side with his amusement.

Lucy averts her eyes from his infectious glee, a light blush dusting her cheeks under her make-up. She takes another sip of her drink, this one serving more as a distraction from her small bout of nervousness. It thrills her to see all of the people she had grown up with, shared the good, easy times and more difficult times with having fun and enjoying themselves in celebration of two more of their town children becoming adults.

The orchestra commences on to a new song and Natsu notices Lucy looking longingly at the pianist off to the side of the performance area. The Heartfilia Founding Family ring on her index finger tapping on her champagne glass along with the accompaniment the piano keys were providing for the musical piece.

 _She can probably play the piece_ , Natsu muses with a proud buzz coursing through him.

He thought it was amazing that the girl, even from a young age, could render any onlooker completely silent with awe from her playing. Or, maybe that was just Natsu's skewed perspective. No-one has ever heard of the Dragneel Founding Family being elegant and beautiful like the Heartfilia's. No, the Dragneel family was all about protecting Magnolia with their unusual hair colours and eccentric personalities to match.

Jude and Layla Heartfilia approach the stationary pair from behind.

"Lucy," Layla says softly, patiently waiting for her daughter's response but finds none when she sees that her call has fallen on already occupied ears.

The older version of Lucy peers at Natsu under her golden fringe that is swept to the side in her usual style. Having been watching the scene, Natsu simply shrugs lifting his hands palm upwards and discovering that he is still holding his empty glass, of which he swiftly sets on the round oak table a mere foot away before returning to his place.

Lucy's mother places a hand on her daughter's shoulder, breaking the girl out of her musical trance.

The girl turns her head, looking slightly startled with an ounce of guilt flitting across her features for getting so lost in the orchestra's music. "Oh, sorry, Mama."

Amusement fills her mothers' loving expression as she looks at her daughter with brown eyes. "Your Papa and I are just going to step outside for some air," Layla explains, smiling warmly.

"Okay," Lucy beams at her parents in response. "See you in a bit," she smiles, her eyelids closing with glee as she raises her hand to give a small wave.

Layla turns to her husband, linking her arm through his offered one. Natsu watches them just about to start walking away.

 _Oh wait…_

"Mister Heartfilia," Natsu calls out, his body beckoning himself forward.

The invited man pivots so that he is angled toward the boy, his wife looking at Natsu calmly. It is only once the words are uttered that the pink haired boy realises that Lucy would be able to hear their exchange. Natsu finds the girl in question staring at him, brown eyes widened slightly with her inquiring expression.

Natsu darts his black eyes back to Jude, who is patiently waiting for him to continue with whatever he called the man for.

"Um…" The boy pauses. "Actually never mind," he says, placing a hand behind his head and laughing nervously.

The man chuckles, his laugh lines creasing around his eyes. "Okay, Natsu."

With that, Lucy's mother and father departed.

Lucy rounds on the boy. "What was that about?" She demands.

Natsu suddenly finds the table with his discarded glass on interesting and begins whistling, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The boy could feel the stone him and Lucy had found in the mountains a couple of days before still in his left pocket, so he fumbles with that to add even more distraction from the command at hand.

"Natsu," Lucy urges.

He stops whistling. "You'll find out later."

Lucy purses her rouge lips at his vague reply. "What's the big secr-."

"My boy!" Lucy is cut off by a man with vibrant red hair bundling in to Natsu, almost knocking him off of his feet.

The victim groans, "Pa! Get off me."

"Oh shush, give your good ol' Pa some time with his son." Natsu's father wraps his arm around the boy's broad, strong shoulders and leans in to talk to him. "You having fun?"

Natsu tilts his head away from Igneel's own head invading his personal space, sniffing at the alcoholic tinge to the man's breath. "It's great. Seems like you've been having a lot of fun too," the younger Dragneel laughs.

His father grins. "Of course! It's not every day a Dragneel grows old enough to finally help protect the town."

The boy exudes excitement at the chance to serve his beloved Magnolia, to join his family as a man who is no longer looked at like a helpless child by the rest of the Dragneels when they visit.

"I can barely wait!" Natsu exclaims.

"You are never one to be patient, Natsu," a girl giggles.

Igneel looks round to see the owner of the familiar light laugh. Lucy looks radiant in her red dress, her whole essence full of life and enchantment.

"Hey, Little Lu," the man beams at her, cheeks a shade lighter than his hair from his intoxication.

Lucy gives him a steady gaze. "I'm not little anymore, Igneel," she states in jest with a small flutter of her eye lashes, before she finishes her champagne and sets her glass down next to Natsu's.

"Indeed you are not." Igneel responds, removing his arm from around Natsu's shoulders. "You have grown into a fine woman," the red haired man nudges Natsu with his elbow with his words, making the boy stumble slightly toward Lucy.

The girl squirms a little under Igneel's somewhat intense stare, considering how drunk he seemed to be. The orchestra's music changes pace from a calming ball-like melody to a more forest-like, Celtic sound featuring bag pipes. It is such a tune that it practically invites all those still standing, or sitting, in the wooden hall to bounce to their feet, joining the people that were already on the dance floor.

"If I recall, Lucy likes this one," Igneel states with a mischievous lift of his lips.

Natsu's father grabs hold of his son's wrist, while using his other built arm to reach toward Lucy's own wrist. After pulling them to him, Igneel lets go of their wrists and places a hand on each of their backs ignoring the two pairs of wide eyes owlishly peering at him.

"Stop standing around and go dance," he says, pushing Natsu and Lucy together toward the dance floor watching as they both stumble for the trouble.

Natsu swivels on his heel, raising a fist in the air. "Oi! Don't go pushing me around old man!" But, all he receives in response is cackling from Igneel, as the man bends over and wraps his arms around his middle to ease his breathing.

"The night's magical, Natsu!" Igneel bellows, cupping a hand around his mouth to further accentuate his voice over the noise in the hall.

At Natsu's puzzled look, his father gives him a cheeky black eyed wink and it dawns on him the implications in the man's actions.

But, ignoring the father and son exchange, Lucy grabs Natsu's hand. The rush of her hand on his makes Natsu feel as if the girl is getting just as caught up in the fever of the celebration as him. The pink haired boy shakes away Igneel's words.

 _Not right now, Pa_. Natsu's placid thoughts a rare occurrence for the naturally impatient boy.

"Your Pa is right. I do love the Fairy Tail piece," Lucy says sweetly, her demeanour radiating excitement. "Come on!" She pulls Natsu by his hand on to the dance floor, submerging them in to the crowd of flowing figures.

Cheers erupt, filling the atmosphere as the musical pieces kicks in to its main theme. Claps are heard echoing around them, in time with the beat of the music.

Both of them blend into the crowd, lifting their knees and arms in unison with the townspeople around them in memorised steps they all knew from ages old tradition. Lucy's laughter tinkles in Natsu's ears, her glowing aura filling up the hall as the two move round each other to switch positions on their square of the dance floor.

"Hey, Luce," Natsu pipes up, slowing his pace.

"Yes, Natsu?" Lucy answers while slowing her movement to match his, face curious.

"Would you, uh…" He pauses, and places a hand behind his neck rubbing it up and down in a self-soothing motion while looking down.

"Would I what?" The girl asks, tilting her head in an attempt to peer in to the boys' downcast eyes.

Natsu looks at Lucy, making contact with her brown irises and taking a breath to steel his nerves. "Would you like to, or want to…" He trails off, his voice becoming quieter as something falls on to his foot and rolls on the floor, his black eyes trailing its movement as it comes to a stop not far from his shoes.

"What's that?" Lucy asks, her mind taken off of Natsu's pending question.

Natsu bends to pick it up, hitching his trousers up to do so. "It's the stone we found," he says, lifting himself up again.

"Oh, did you ask your Pa about that?" Lucy questions, having almost forgotten about the strange shiny black stone they found that resembled the one set into Natsu's family ring.

Natsu stuffs his free hand into the pocket that had been holding it earlier. "No…" The boy answers vaguely, hand rummaging around before three of his fingers slip through a hole in the lining.

"I swear that wasn't there before," Natsu mumbles to himself.

The pink haired boy notices Lucy startle in the corner of his eye, catching his attention from his pocket. "What's up, Luce?" He questions, worry tinging his tone.

"The stone, it's glowing," she answers, gesturing to his hand that is holding the black stone.

Natsu notices the faint red light emanating through his fingers that are like a cage over their discovery. He opens up the cage to have the glowing stone open out on his palm. Lucy reaches out to touch it.

"Ouch!" She cries while she recoils her hand, grabbing it to cradle the injury to her chest. "How is that not burning you?" The girl hisses harshly.

The boy's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean? It isn't hot," Natsu's voice clearly conveying his confusion as he looks between the stone and Lucy's face, her expression changing to one of apprehension.

"Natsu," Lucy breathes. " _It's boiling hot_ ," she says, stressing each word.

His frown only deepens further at Lucy's words, deaf to the music and blind to the dancers around them. How could it be boiling hot? He can't feel either hot or cold emanating from it; the stone must be at the same temperature as his skin. To reaffirm his thoughts, Natsu prods the stone and still does not feel anything particular from it.

After his poke, the stone's glowing intensifies. The detail of a spiral in the centre, with straight lines facing outward surrounding it, begin to brighten from their engraved obsidian in to a glistening crimson. Natsu's eye is caught by another presence of light. The boy slowly turns his free hand around to reveal the Dragneel family ring on his right thumb. The rims of Natsu's eyes widen at the Dragneel sigil of protection: two flame encircled swords crossing over each other, glowing the same bright crimson as the stone in its engraving.

"What… what's going on? Why is your ring glowing too?" Natsu's focus darts to Lucy at her tone dripping with fear.

Natsu shakes his head, "I don't know."

The crimson light in the matching stone and ring grows brighter, merging from red to cobalt blue. Out of nowhere flames burst forth from the etched lines, causing Lucy and Natsu to jump back in shock from the source of the flames. Natsu drops the stone as he does so, causing it to clatter on the wooden floor.

Lucy shouts, horror heightening in her voice. "Natsu! Your veins are…" Natsu watches as her brown eyes widen with disbelief and fear.

The boy looks down at himself and gasps. He can see all the veins mapping underneath his skin, pulsing with the rate of his increasing heartbeat.

"They're glowing…"

"…Red," Lucy breathes.

Natsu's heart pummels against his ribcage. Panic flutters within him as the organ feels as though it wants to break free from its confines; the flashing of his crimson veins leaping across his skin. Natsu doubles over and his hands fly to grapple with the shirt covering his chest, his eyes squeezing shut, as the pressure within his torso becomes too much for him to stay upright.

He is only vaguely aware of Lucy as she dashes over to him and wraps her arms around his shoulders in an attempt to placate whatever is happening to him. The girl tries in vain to whisper comforting words to him, asking the boy to tell her what is going on. But, Natsu is deaf to her sweet voice, one he is usually always in tune to, only hearing rushing in his ears. Not that he could tell Lucy what was happening anyway; he did not know himself. The boy was not aware of the dancers closest to the crouching pair forming a circle of worried faces around them.

All of a sudden, as if nothing had happened, it all stops. The pressure melts away and the crimson pulsing veins recede to their normal colour, his hearing returning to normal to hear silence. No music, just his harsh breathing and murmured words surrounding him. Natsu lifts his head slowly and straightens, shaking slightly from the trauma. His black eyes focus to meet Lucy's fearful brown ones, horror plastered across her features as she follows Natsu's lead to stand. The boy looks around to witness the identical looks of concern pictured on his fellow townspeople.

Just in time for him to explode.

Natsu's arms fling outward, his head forced back as a pulse of energy releases itself from him. Slamming his eyes shut, a guttural scream is ripped out of his throat. But, it does not fail to drown out Lucy's receding high pitched shriek, as she and everyone else surrounding Natsu flies away from him from the shock wave that hits them. People scatter around the room, falling into furniture or, where the furniture is scarce, hitting the walls. But, Natsu stays in place as the eye of the storm.

He opens his eyes and flames fill his vision. The reds, yellows and blues dance together as they quickly consume the entire birch wood hall in their path. Terror consumes Natsu upon witnessing the destruction in his explosive wake. The people he holds dear lay around him, some moving while others are clearly unconscious. Everyone he sees has glistening wounds of some sort splitting their skin, the flames encasing them reflecting off of the ruby blood pouring out of the injuries. Screams and shouts mingle with the crackling of burning wood; a stark contrast to the joy that had graced the hall not five minutes before.

"Natsu!" The boy hears the familiar shout, his heat shooting up in the direction of the sound.

His eyes trace Lucy amongst the burning timber. She is struggling against Riza and Roy, who are gripping on to either side of her slender arms. Blood trickles down from the girl's hairline and Natsu can see the shimmer of tears flowing down her pink cheeks, as Lucy continues to shout out to him.

"No, Lucy. He's dangerous," Roy's voice pleads.

"Dangerous?" Lucy shouts, incredulous. "He's not dangerous. He didn't mean for this to happen!" She pleads with them to let her go to the boy.

A small smile tugs at Natsu's mouth at the girl's words, despite the devastation.

 _At least Lucy hasn't given up on me_.

He stretches out his arm, beckoning Lucy, sorrow pitching inside him at the hurtful words of his fellow townspeople. The boy steps forward but Riza and Roy stumble backward with Lucy, as she continues to thrash against them. It is only then that Natsu notices his skin. Flames wrap around him, hugging tight to his figure. They scatter across the surface, not actually touching him, nor does he feel anything from them. It feels so wrong, no heat, no burn, no pain. Not like everyone else around him.

Loud groaning above catches all of their attention; the flames had already engulfed the beams and rafters of the roof. The beams begin to bow, the wood splintering as Lucy finally breaks free of Riza and Roy, taking advantage of their distraction.

"Natsu!" Lucy screams, as the roof gives way.

Natsu whips his head toward Lucy running at him. He begins to rush to her.

"No, Lucy!" He bellows, Riza and Roy's voices joining his.

The burning timbers crash down around Natsu, cutting off his path to Lucy and falling on top of him. One of the flaming beams pin Natsu on his back, making it hard for him to breathe. The flames encasing Natsu's body joining those already eating in to the wood. He tries to crane his neck to look around the hall, but he cannot see Lucy in his limited line of sight. All he can see are the growing flames, reaching in to the sky, and wooden debris.

Natsu draws in as much air as he can to shout Lucy's name, the smoke filling the atmosphere somehow not choking him.

"Lucy!" He screams, but hears no response save the crackling of the searing wood.

Despair swells inside Natsu. He was supposed to protect the town now as an adult Dragneel, not destroy it. He looks up through the gaping hole in the roof in to the clear night sky, speckled with sparkling stars across its surface, orange tinging the peripherals of his vision while the hall burns. Pain filled screams and shouts encase his hearing and clog the otherwise calm night, as he lays there pinned to the floor.

 _Why? Why did this happen?_

Desperate tears overflow the rims of his eyes, the question he was about to ask Lucy before all this happened dying on his lips.

" _Would you like to marry me?"_

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 **A/N: Bam! My first oneshot~**

 **My first year of University is over *cries*, buuut that means I get more time to write for you lovely people! I found out on Friday that I passed all my first year units, so I wrote this little oneshot to celebrate and get me in the mood to finally take _A Devil's Call_ out of hiatus.**

 **I actually put a fair amount of planning in to this, so if you guys are itching to know more about what happens to Natsu and Lucy then leave a review or message me!**

 **Hope you all have been having a lovely time while I have been away, but now I'm back in business!**

 **Looking forward to hearing your thoughts,  
SakuraWindChime~**


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